from all the clutter of that great hotel. well done. thank you. it won't surprise you that all of our experts have collections of their own. some of them have amazing things within them, but they also have the odd mistake. maybe the odd dud, maybe even the odd fake. deborah lambert, don't know if you've got fakes in your collection, but what the odd dud or disappointment? well, it's a sort of disappointment. it may surprise you that i say this is my disappointment. 'cause this is beautiful. well, it's something that i'm very, very fond of, but it has a sad history. when i first met my partner graham, he had just start collecting pots by a company called pearson's of chesterfield. they made kitchen pots. but for some reason, in the late 1950's, they started making these art pots. and we saw this in a shop and fell in love with it,

but it was £250, and we tried not to fall on the floor, because the most he had spent was £30. so it was a very big purchase. it was a very big purchase. and i just knew, foolishly, if you like, that i had to buy it for his birthday. and i did, and he told me what a fool i was, but how nice. i'm sure he was very pleased. it remained the prize of the clection. a while later, i was having work done in the flat. graham was away. and i packed everything away and put things that i wanted safe in a wardrobe that wasn't going to move. and months later, the work was still going on. i was invited to an evening event, long dress needed. so i went in the wardrobe, pulled out my dress, and out with the dress came the pot, onto a concrete floor. oh, no! and smashed into smithereens, oh, my goodness. with me frozen to the spot. and that's what it looked like. really? so that is this.

that's astonishing, though. so how did you put it all back together again? thank goodness for accidental damage, because i found a wonderful restorer who did this, put it back together. you did this on your insurance. i did it on insurance, because it cost, to have it put back together, what i paid for the pot in the first place. and i still love it, and it's absolutely worthless. not worth anything. and did you ever pluck up the courage to tell your partner that you smashed the thing? well, not for ages and ages. because i was so upset about it. i did tell him in the end and his initial reaction was, why on earth did you get it restored? but i think he's quite glad that i did and it is still, certainly my favorite pot, and i think he's quite fond of it, too. so what about your pride and joy then? well, this little book is my pride. it's not particularly rare. but again, the story has to go back to 1938. december, my mother had just turned 20, and she was invited to a sherry party. a sherry party. how lovely. and she said no, she couldn't 'cause she was going to a dance.

and the friend said, what a pity, because my brother's great friend jack lambert is coming. and my mother said that she felt a tingle of shock run up the back of her neck at the name. and she immediately changed her mind and said yes, she would go to the party. so she went to the party, she met my father, she absolutely fell in love with him. they spent the whole evening talking to each other on a sofa, and found that they lived very close. and he held her hand for a very long time and said, "i would love to take you out "but i can't for a month because i have to finish writing the penguin guide to cornwall." and after a month, he did get in touch with her when he'd finished the book. and it came out in 1939 when he was 22. so it's 70 years old. and there he is. and it started a relationship of 48 years because in august, 1940, my father had joined the navy,

and he was on about two or three days' leave and they got married. and the morning of the wedding was the first time that my mother had seen him in his bell bottoms. he was then a naval rating. and he looks fairly happy about it. he looks chuffed to bits, as he should be on his wedding day. what a wonderful photograph. so this little book, although it looks nothing, this is a prized possession. worth a lot more to you. it certainly is. thanks, deborah. it's the most extraordinary longcase clock i've ever seen. all put together with bits. tell me more. it was in the garage of a house we bought about a year and a half ago, and it just sat there. let's look at the clock. this door is obviously something off a japan clock from the 1770's. so that's been put on to this extraordinary plywood-made hood. so you didn't make any of this yourself?

no, not at all. just found it there, covered in dust. do you know anything about this chap, john hamm? wouldn't know anything about it at all. i haven't even internet-ed it at all. right. well, john ham... and i think this has been repainted. i think that should've said kingsand. kingsand is in cornwall, is it not? there is a john ham of kingsand, round about 1840, 1845, which would fit in with this sort of 30-hour dial. but nothing fits in with this sort of case, 'cause it is absolutely weird. it's quite extraordinary, isn't it? and somebody has just cobbled it up together from bits of oak and bits of ply. the tea chest? all sorts of things. it's just a fun object. there's some strange carving here, as well. naked ladies climbing up trees. very african. yes. i'm not going to associate a very high value with it. the movement's quite fun. i wasn't expecting it to be worth anything, actually. probably, if you put it to auction like this as a bit of fun,

it might make £250, 300 top whack. that's not bad. but i'm far more intrigued. how you going to get it home then? it's gonna go back the way it came. we are gonna row it home. you're being serious. yes, we'll put it in the sailboat, and we'll row back with it. the way it came. i've never heard anything so strange. clocks and water don't go terribly well together. make sure it's safe. it arrived here safely, it will go back safely. wonderful. this picture belongs to the royal marines. the royal marines, yes. it's hanging up in the mess at royal marines in stonehouse. it's one of the unusual paintings, because most of the paintings in the barracks are figures, and this one... or portraits. portraits, yes. this one is particularly interesting because it's a navy ship, and it's looking over towards the edgcumbe estate and manor house. i love the way it's signed over here. that's just completely brilliant. by j.t. serres. i don't know much about him at all. all i know is it's a wonderful painting, and i wish to know more about it.

okay. well, his father was dominic serres. and he was one of the great marine painters of britain. often, they were imported; lots of dutchmen. in this case, a frenchman. i love all these little figures massed on the deck, ready to change all the sails and get around. she's heading out. she's heading out, yes. the little ship here that we refer to where the guy has signed his name, i think that's the cremyll ferry that flies between plymouth and the edgcumbe estate. oh, i see. i've been looking at this picture for quite a long time, and i looked at the far end, at your end there, and i can see slight ghosts. the same pattern of the ship. i think i can see where you mean. the sail running down here. you can see it. there's the shadow of the sail, which has been covered over by new paint. why do you think it would have been moved to there? i think it's because it may have been commissioned by the edgcumbe family, 'cause they did put a lot of money for the fleet, and because that's their manor house

and they commissioned the painting, they probably thought the boat was too near... yes, i see what you mean. it's obscuring his house, in fact. getting in the way. that's the most important thing, is my house. i paid for it, so i want it visible. fair enough. well, now, j.t. serres had a wonderful reputation for painting the sea, and he has this gloriously airy way of doing so, and it's lovely and transparent, as well. you can see through everything, and the rigging is very finely observed. it takes a mariner to understand this. and often, pictures of this vintage-- what is it, it's late 18th century, isn't it? yes, i think so. and they've been cleaned a lot, and the first thing that goes is the riggings. the rigging's painted on the top and if you over-clean a picture, it comes right off. in this case, it's all still there. so it's in terrific condition. yeah, it's in really good condition. well, it's a big picture, and it's a good picture, and it's by one of britain's best marine painters. i think it's worth between £60,000 and £80,000.

crumbs. um, that's slightly more than what the books say. it's valued at the mess at £400. £400?! yes. well, you need to update that. i think we should. definitely. thank you very much indeed. thank you. i see you've got a family day out. whose is the ugly brown jug? it's mine. i bought it on tavistock market about ten years ago. it had a little sign on it saying "medieval jug," and i'd done a pottery night class, and i remembered that this base round it is very distinctive of medieval pottery. so i thought there was a chance that it might actually be as old as it said it was. but since then, there have been family debates and arguments about whether it is or whether it isn't, and hopefully, you can tell us today whether it really is as old as that, or whether it's something completely different. i will certainly do my best. yes, it's not the prettiest thing that's ever been brought along.

no, nobody has said they liked it. but it is what early pottery is all about. it's a wonderful handmade thing. it's got all the features you'd expect of a medieval pot. they're made all over the country from the local clays. the way the handle is finished at the bottom, it's been pushed out by somebody's thumb. the way the base is finished here, you see this in the 1300's and 1400's. if you were going off to agincourt, you would've been drinking beer or mead or something like that, out of a jug like this. it really is that old? it really is that old. and it's in amazingly good condition, as well. when you look at copies of these, you wouldn't get this surface wear. this is a fired stoneware. actually, if you put beer in it, it doesn't matter whether it's glazed or not. it shouldn't soak through. the pottery ones would need to be glazed in order to hold water, beer, mead. whatever you're gonna put in it. i've never used it for that. i'll have to give it a go now. watch what's in it. you might find there's a dead mouse inside. there's got a label on the bottom.

has it? oh, that label. yes. you paid what? £9.50 for it. i reckon if you went to a specialist, i reckon the label on the bottom would be £1,200. really? it's a great thing. it's a lovely piece of pottery. it's what pottery is all about. even though it is an ugly brown jug. that is amazing. this is just lovely how it is just shiny and sparkling at me. when did it shine and sparkle for you? my mother bought it about 30 years ago on a market stall in exeter for a very small price. for a very small price? yes. how much? two pounds. two pounds? yes. and it didn't look like that. when she brought it home, it was completely black, and she dropped it in a glass of gin and cleaned it up, and that's what appeared. good old gin. so that's amazing. so for two pounds, and she cleaned it up, and then what did she think? she thought it was something special,

and she sort of hid it away for the next 25 years, as an insurance policy, i think, never having had much money. and then it came out, i remember, for a family wedding when she put it on a black dress, and it absolutely sparkled. and it's been handed down to me. and have you worn it? no, i haven't, because i don't really know how to wear it. i'm not really a brooch person. i thought about putting it on a pendant, on a chain or something, and i can see it has done something else in its life, but i'd like to know more about it before i actually risked wearing it really. so do you know what the stones are? well, i hope they're diamonds. when the sun is shining, even glass and paste look amazing. and these are literally sparkling, and that's because they're diamonds. that's great. you can be relieved about that. what is lovely about this is that it is 1900. it's made in platinum. and the delicacy of the design... it's a cartouche-shaped design. and platinum was allowing white stones and especially diamonds

to come alive, and with a minimum of metal around it. so the stones were cut in about 1895, 1900. and it really is lovely. it has had a later safety chain, and it's had a later catch. but otherwise, i think it's intact as it is. it is how it started. something like this would have been quite an amazing piece to have commissioned by then, let alone now. it looks fantastic now, doesn't it? and so, then, it would have been even greater value, really, for them. and they would have worn it in the evening, with either black velvet behind and very elegantly. and you said your mother... wore it with a black dress. and that's the only thing it would really go with. yes, yes. absolutely right. oh, that's lovely. well, value. i think your two pounds, or your mother's two pounds,

has been very well-spent. and i would suggest that at an auction, you'd probably be about £2,500 to £3,500. that's brilliant. okay. that's brilliant. thank you. enjoy wearing it. i will do. thanks i'm going through a phase of object association. so i'm looking at this magnificent piece of victorian pottery. so why am i thinking of gracie fields? why am i thinking of gracie fields? no idea. i'll tell you why. because one of her favorite songs was "the biggest aspidistra in the world." you see, you've gotta be of a certain generation to know about these things here. it's not in your record collection, is it? no. but it used to have one in it. oh, did it? i'm glad to know that. so i'm told that this was actually a gift. it was, yeah.

it was a friend that lived in london who, i admired this every time we went up there. a few other pieces, as well. but she decided to move to wales, and brought this with her, but it just wouldn't fit in the small house she was moving into. that's remarkable. so you just admired it. i admired it. and it ended up... i ended up owning it. forgive me, i don't mean to pry, but you do need a house of a certain size for this. i live in a large house. you've got a large house. and what about conservatory? i've got a conservatory, where this lives. because that's what it was destined for. is it? way back in the 1870's. but let's have a look at this combo, if you will. because the pedestal is quite breathtaking, isn't it? yeah, it's beautiful. and you know and i know there's a mark under there that says minton. and minton, for me, the great factory. the great ceramic manufacturer of the entire 19th century. dalton's, yes, wedgwood, yes.

but when you're talking victoriana, it doesn't get any better for me than minton. i mean, this is pottery that makes me smile. i love it. you do. well, you've been smiling ever since we started. let's just look at the construction, because the thing about the victorians, they were into novelty, they were into inventive forms, so you've got these sort of hooves on a triform base. acanthus leaves. and these lovely rams... or are they goat's heads? i'm not quite sure. then you move up to the jardiniere. i've had this before in my previous life with an auction house. i've had several versions of this in different colorways. but always with these lines, these pilasters, lions' heads and ring handles. this time using this lovely turquoise, which is almost synonymous with minton, although wedgwood and george jones all use that sort of color.

i suppose... i don't know the price of an aspidistra. but i'd have to say that the antique market is subject to the same foibles of many other markets insofar as prices change, and prices alter. but you're looking at somewhere between £6,000 and 8,000. gosh. it's pin money to people like this, i realize. but having said that, the bad news is, if we were having this conversation let's say, ten or 12 years ago, it may have been worth £8,000 to 10,000. but the good news is that the price of aspidistras is very much the same. ( laughter ) thank you so much. thank you. thanks very much. what do you think this is? i thought it was a golf club.

you thought? have you done some research on it or looked into what you think it is? i had a look on the internet, and couldn't find anything like it. no golf clubs like this at all on the internet? no. not at all. how extraordinary. let's look at some of the features. first of all, on the head, this is just beautiful, isn't it? ivory and ebony inlaid. it really reminds me of the 1920's. art deco. that's what it says to me. this wonderful fan shape. very contrasting colors of the ivory and the ebony. nice little collar here. again with ebony and ivory. and then, a bit of inset metal at the back there. it's quite unusual, though, to see a golf club that's decorated quite so much. where did you get it from? i had a friend that lived next door to me for 22 years, and when she died, she left me the contents of her house, and that was amongst it, so i don't know anything. she never showed it to me when she lived there. so i don't know.

i'm in a quandary. i'm waiting for you to tell me. well, i can tell that you're not a golf player, are you? you are absolutely not a golfer. no, not at all. and this is no golf club. it is actually a walking stick. oh! i thought it was too wobbly to be a walking stick. it is the most beautifully designed walking stick. i have seen so many walking canes with the hand grip being carved out of ivory into the shape of an animal's head. all sorts of walking canes with gold and silver handles. and i love this one more than all of those. i've never seen one like this. it's just beautifully designed, and at about £400. worth a bit more than your average secondhand golf club. yes. yes. you're right. no wonder it didn't come under a golf club on the internet. i love it. so do i.

i liked it before. i like it even more now. a clock from bath. what's it doing down here on the devon-cornish border? well, my parents very kindly gave it to us as a wedding present about four years ago. before that, my grandfather had bought it in 1946 for £25. it's all you'd want from an english bracket clock, dating from a few years prior to 1800. thomas field of bath, a good maker. in business from the mid-1770's through to around 1820, but i would happily say that this is just prior to the turn of the century. and it's got the classic dial that all the collectors want. twin subsidiaries in the arch, the strike silent, and this one for slow-fast, which is the rise and fall of the pendulum. and unusually, you've got a rather nice subsidiary date dial, as well. many bracket clocks down here would've had a little window

with a calendar aperture, but this has got the full date subsidiary. it's a fabulous dial. it really is. and let's just have a quick whiz round here to the movement. where we've got the holdfast for the pendulum, which is just what you'd want to see. it's got the anchor escapement. everything you'd want. would thomas field, the name on it, would he have done the whole thing or just the mechanism, or just the case? well, now you mention it, i see there's something here, which says, movement made by thwaites london. but that's perfectly legitimate. perfectly legitimate. next is the case. again, it's what they all want in the current market. the triple pad, all brass bound, lovely flame veneers. mahogany? mahogany. absolutely. bit of brass inlay, little ivory escutcheons. it's super.

so how much is it worth? oh, i knew you'd ask me that eventually. in the current market, i could see this happily making £6,000 to 7,000 at auction. good grief. and after a little sympathetic restoration, for instance, the hands don't match. and there's a bit of paint down there. i was gonna say, i noticed a little bit of white gloss paint there. i trust that wasn't you. oh, it clearly was. no, i don't know. in any retail outlet, that is going to be at least £15,000. good grief. it's of its type, top of the range, and just what everybody wants. thank you very much. glad you're happy. i am. there are certain categories of glass that you can put a tenner on are gonna turn up at every antiques roadshow location. and one is cranberry glass, and the second is mary gregory decoration. this hand-painted decoration, using glass enamels, is an absolute classic and a favorite. so i presume that you haven't owned this a very long time.

i haven't, no. i got it at a car boot sale with my son. he has a good eye for these kind of things, and he said, "dad, make 'em an offer for this, and it'll make a nice present for mum." and i did. sweet. and so how much did you pay? £22. what did he think he was buying? he knew what he was buying. which is? a cranberry glass... and how old is this? he said it was victorian. there's the problem. oh, right. rather than the late-victorian one which he quite certainly believed to be genuine, this was made last thursday in ching pan pu in china. the chinese are repro'ing these. this is not a fake. it's a reproduction. and you look at that, and you just know, to be absolutely honest. it's got a very thick sausage of colorless crystal underneath the base. just there; you can see it. the real ones never have that. and then, you turn it underneath, and it's all matte polished there, and i've never seen a right one like that. it just feels wrong, you know.

it just says "new." it says "ping pang pu." ( laughter ) all right. rather than czechoslovakia. if an object is worth exactly what anybody pays for them, this is worth 22 quid, because that's exactly what you paid for it. thank you very much. now with this amazing piece of silver, i have to tell you, i've got some very good news, and i've got some bad news. right. which would you like first? let's have the bad news. the bad news is that it has suffered some repairs. right. and there are some bits missing. when you look inside... this is a wine cooler. and there should be a liner inside, and there should be a plate running around there. the other bad news is that we've got extensive repair, and very bad repair, in that area. you can even see all the solder, great lumps of it.

a skilled restorer should be able to sort that out. so we'll move on to the good news. good. okay. so, the good news. well, there, of course, we've got the maker's mark of paul storr. paul storr, one of the most important silversmiths this country has ever had. and the date-- we've got a london set of hallmarks there for 1809. this is where we get into the even better news. paul storr is very good news. but the greatest period for paul storr was after he joined rundell, bridge and rundell, whose inscription, in fact, we see... there. rundell, bridge and rundell. and he remained with them 1807 through to about 1820. and the most important work is during that period. tell me, how did you come to be in possession of this?

i wish it was mine. unfortunately, i'm just the custodian. it belongs to the royal marines. i am the custodian of literally hundreds of pieces of silver, and many other items. my most favorite piece of silver is this item. it's on permanent display in a cabinet. i always think it's so sad when something like that languishes in a vault. the quality of the workmanship is stunning. when you look at the anthemions that we've got here, those are actually made separately and applied to the body. it's made in the very best way. and actually, looking at the base here, this is also part of the very good news. because normally, that's what you find, and you don't get that. so that is actually quite rare. so how many of them have you got? just the one. i was going to ask, would it have been made as a pair? is it an individual piece?

it's just the one i have. straightaway, we can tell, number 2 there. so we know there was at least a pair. of course, we come to the knotty question of value. yeah. it is an important piece of regency silver. but it's got bits missing, it's got some very nasty repairs around there. so what is it worth? if it had come to us a pair without the base, those you'd be expecting about 100,000 for. what? but then, it's a single. so you've got to go down again. down to about 60,000. and then, you've got to take away the fact that that's missing and the fact you've got the repair. i would go for about 40,000. wow. that's enough.

just find the missing bits, get that well-restored, and find the other one. ( laughter ) i'll see what i can do. fantastic. thank you very much. you remember how we used to end the antiques roadshow with a car driving along with the grandfather clock coming out the roof? well, today, i think we can go one better. take a look at this. beautiful cornish boat with your grandfather clock. chaps, have you had a good day? very good, thank you very much. take her away. see you later. from morwellham quay, and the whole of the antiques roadshow team, and the chaps here, bye-bye.

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growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america." on the floor of the u.s. senate, protesters delay the confirmation hearing for america's next spy chief. teargas and riot police on the streets of tunis as the country's fledgling democracy struggles to survive a crisis we know it is not good for us but it is not fun, but why are so many people doing it? fledglingntry's

democracy struggles to survive. we know that it is not good for us, but wire so many people doing it? welcome to our viewers on public television in america. america's drone program came -- undere nomination fire at the nomination hearing for john brennan. the man that president obama has tapped to be his next spy chief says that the white house goes through agony to make sure that there are no collateral deaths in these attacks. >> a panel of senators brimming with questions. barely a few words in, the first interruption but not from politicians. >> i am honored to appear before you today as the president's nominee. >> would you hold please? i will ask the police to please

remove this woman. >> four times, protesters interrupted at the hearing. there was a vocal opposition to the program and to john brennan becoming the next director. he was questioned over his past involvement in enhance interrogation techniques. >> i've expressed my personal objections to my colleagues about certain of those situations such as water boarding, nudity, and others. i've expressed my personal objections but i did not try to stop it because it was something that was being done in a different part of the agency under the authority of others. >> when asked about john strikes, he criticized the protesters. >> i think there is an impression on the part of some american people who believe that we take strikes to punish terrorists for past transgressions. nothing could be further from

the true spirit to we only take this as a last resort to save lives. -- nothing could be further from the truth. we only do this as a last resort to save lives. >> it recently, a secret base in saudi arabia was revealed, first yeaused to kill this man. he was also a u.s. citizen and the obama administration agreed to show congress the legal opinion justifies such attacks. the white house argues that from strikes effectively target america's enemies but critics cite heavy civilian casualties and the u.s. relies on them too much. >> the drone is the only weapon that really frightened insurgents. it is ineffective. we cannot possibly kill these people one at a time and expect to come out on top. >> they are clearly not

invincible. iranian tv has shown these pictures that come from a u.s. surveillance drone they captured two years ago. it's interesting timing. >> with me here in the studio is a former adviser to president obama's special up is that it to afghanistan and pakistan. you understand this area of the world very closely. how important is this to the national security? >> it has killed a number of al qaeda leaders but it has not decimated the organization completely. it has pushed them to move into other areas of the middle east. also, at a very high political cost. it does cause an enormous amount of anger in pakistan which has

helped to spread extremism. the pakistan is feel that this has encouraged attacks on civilians. >> the drone program has been stepped up a lot by the obama administration. now, we're starting to see questions in the u.s.. >> the problem is who are they targeting? the high-value targets, we know who they are. there are many more attacks that killed lower-level targets. people that might be mildly associated with terrorists. the larger issue is that it is causing a political problem. people in pakistan think whether these targets are legitimate or not, the u.s. is violating their airspace and national sovereignty. that my be a greater cost. >> those are not the arguments i was hearing listing to the hearing john brennan.

but the senators were concerned about was not the political implications, they were concerned about the without the of targeted american citizens and that is pretty much that was all they were concerned about. >> that is a very narrow concern largely because this is in line with what the bush administration implemented. the republicans are hard pressed to criticize the drone program. the democrats do not want to criticize it. the only focus on whether we should be killing americans. the problem is much bigger than this legality of killing americans abroad. this is the whole way it has unfolded, the way in which it tarnishes america's image. >> we will see whether john brennan suffers because of these hearings. thank you very much. there has been a second day of violent protests in the capital of tunisia following the

assassination of an opposition protester. clashes between protesters and police threaten democracy as the politicians are disagreeing on how to deal with this crisis. we have been out on the streets of the capital. >> the situation across tunisia is incredibly tense. the assassination has shaken the country to its very core. ? we have not seen scenes like this for two years. there are right police clashing on this main street. the young men are protesting about the government. the government allied to the muslim brotherhood, accused of a road and the people the freedoms that people had one in the

revolution. -- accused of eroding the freedoms that the people won in the revolution. there is a highly charged funeral tomorrow. many people across the country are anticipating more trouble. >> a very tense time they're in tunisia. it has been described as the blackest day in australian sport. crushing revelations of mass doping have ripped across the image. doctors, coaches, scientists were all involved, working alongside in an organized crime syndicate with the widespread use of banned drugs. courts in a country that loves sport and hates -- >> in a country that loves sports and hates cheats, many are calling this the blackest day. it is alleged that the use of

performance-enhancing drugs is being facilitated by doctors, scientists, coaches, organized crime. some are using substances not yet approved for shipment news. in some cases, entire teams have been doped. >> the findings are shocking. the work that the commission has done has found the use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones, and illicit drugs is widespread among professional athletes. >> multiple criminal offenses have been committed and athletes who have used the substances have been urged to come forward. >> standing here today with some of the ceo's of major sport is a statement to those who seek to ruin sport. if you want to cheat, we will catch you. if you want to fix a match, we

will catch you. >> a country that has been in the forefront of the anti doping campaign, the accusations have been shocking. >> this is the blackest day in australian sport. >> because criminal investigations are underway, the investigators have not revealed teams are involved. fans are left asking which of their heroes they can trust. >> it is not worries yet over ban substancened as they are thinking about in moscow, it is the countdown clock of the winter olympics. the firing of one of the top officials has marred the celebration. russia prepares to host next year's games, fears about the size of the budget and the readiness of the venue have

climbed this out of the man in charge of ski jumping. -- have claimed the scalp of the man in charge of ski jumping. >> the official launch of the clock counting down the 365 days left until the winter olympics. vladimir putin fired one of the most senior officials in charge of the games after complaining yesterday about delays in the construction of the ski jump the very personal interest in the games is all about building an image of russia as a modern nation that can once more compete on the international stage with the world's most powerful country. the winter olympics has been a massively important prestige project, but for many people it has just meant living in a building for five years.

on this street overlooking the olympic park, we found this woman. her old house fell apart when the whole hillside started to slip. notice how the kitchen cabinets do not line up with the door frame. she claims that an illegal construction dump caused a landslide. >> may be if this had not happened, i might have enjoyed the olympics but now come on this is hell for -- but now, it is held for me. even if it is prestigious, for us, is a calamity. firing, mostday's of the preparations appear to be on track. these of the most expensive olympics ever.

more expensive even than the beijing summer olympics. >> i did not think that anything could be more expensive than the beijing games. we are all wondering what sport is that the president will compete in. boeing, its future is to plane at the dreamliner has been grounded. today, a safety regulators are talking about how they might let it fly again. >> the 787 is preparing for takeoff to make the flight from texas to washington state. this is the image that a boeing and its customers want to see, the dreamliner back in the air. it was a one-off and around the world, hundreds of 787's are still grounded. this is the reason why. this caught on fire. another overheated. the u.s. air safety officials

have discovered a single battery cell that caused a fire in boston last month. >> based upon findings from the examination and identifying thermal and mechanical damage, we believe that the evidence points to a single cell as the initiating event. >> they believe that the approval should be rethought. >> a short circuit in a single cell can propagate to adjacent cells and results in smoke and fire. the assumption used to certify the battery must be reconsidered. >> pictures like this to not exactly inspire confidence. passengers were forced down an emergency chute over fears of a fire while investigators know

that it will be weeks before they know the cause. the chief executive sought to reassure investors that the company was doing everything in his power to fix its battery problems. the share price seems to be at least holding up. a look at the trading post and you can see at midday trading, shares were up around half of 1%. the technically advanced plane is still in high demand. it is made from plastic, so it uses less fuel. every day it is grounded, the cost to boeing goes up. >> you are watching "bbc world news america," still to come -- the u.s. education system is slipping down the global rankings. we talked to one woman with radical ideas for an overhaul. life like robotic patients are

used by doctors and nurses in the uk who want to practice their clinical skills. they suffer from a range of problems like asthma and severe infections. >> john is sick. he has been in a car crash and he is struggling to breathe. these doctors are trying to figure out what to do. if they cannot, no one dies. these robots are different. they are controlled to react to treatment second by second. "although we are taught in books what to do in certain situations, is very different when you have equipment, and you have people talking to you. run through.way to >> there are other members of the family. he can heartbeat -- he can have

a heartbeat and describe the symptoms. it is cutting edge technology. it's not the only new technology here. the robots are on patrol. they're setting up and delivering the tea and coffee. they also are sorting the mail and they have revolutionized the policy. >> one of the first things we are achieving this that this has been set up. this can be done much more safely by the robot id. >> john salon has collapsed to the doctors have saved his life.

-- john's lung has collapsed. >> america cannot regain our global position until we fix our education. as the company -- as the country struggles to compete, the education is falling behind international standards. there is a book discussing the challenge, "radical." we have heard all the statistics of the american education system is failing compared to other countries. how bad is it? >> the u.s. is 14th, 17th, and 25th in reading, science, and math. we are falling further and further behind. what is interesting is that a lot of people say, well, we have not gotten worse over time.

they are pulling that statistic from the fact that if you look at the achievement level in the 1970's and 60's, it is on par with how our 17-year olds are performing today. the problem is that there are other countries leapfrogging ahead of us. >> if you look at the political situation, education barely features. it was hardly there in the political campaign. >> is a huge problem. in the 2012 presidential campaign, there was very little about education. the focus right now in america is on jobs and the economy. what i think the politicians are failing to realize is if we want to fix our economy and the long run, we have to focus on public education. i talked about the fact that i saw one summer the prime minister of singapore give a speech. but with so interesting is that he said we want to become an

economic powerhouse in the world. the first that they took was to focus on creating great education system. they saw the link between education and the economy. america, we see education more as a social issue. it is not something we are investing in to fix the economy. it is something that gets cut when the budget times are tough. >> is a solution really money? america spends more per child on its education and other countries. >> is not an issue of how much wheat we are spending -- how much we are spending. over the last 20, 30 years we have tripled the amount of money we're spending per child on public education, and yet the results have remained stagnant. part of the problem is that we in the u.s. i don't think are using our money wisely or effectively. >> then you start getting into extreme political territory with

people having very different views on how that money should be spent. >> right. this is one of the things that we push. transparency with budgets. so that everyone can see where our schools, districts, state's spending education dollars and what kind of return on investment are those dollars getting. if we were able to look at the data from that perspective, then we would have obvious choices to make. if we are putting a lot of money into master's degrees for teachers would have been proven to make in not -- proven to not make a big difference of performance. let's take a dollars and pay the teachers more money. >> thank you for coming in. >> absolutely. >> what is your typical lunch during the workweek? the yugo would call the -- do you go with colleagues? a survey says that more men than

women eat al desko. it has to do with the culture that it has become the norm. >> today, many of us will be doing this, munching and lunching wells still chained to our desks. in a survey carried out of almost 600 office workers, 54% said they regularly worked through the lunch hour. 53% believe that there is a widespread culture of colleagues doing the same. perhaps of most concern, 20% say they felt under pressure not to take a break. what is the problem? i am grabbing a quick bite to eat in the fresh air. i have opted for a sandwich and surprisingly, she is checking into a solid. >> it is important to get away

from the workplace and not check e-mail. that leads to what we call mindless eating. you are not concentrating on what you are consuming. that can lead to weight gain. the second thing is that it is important to get out into the fresh air and to be exposed to sunlight. that is how our bodies do this. >> apart from the personal health effects, we wonder what is on and in our desks and keyboards. is it a good idea to eat lunch at your desk? >> certainly not. and the bacteria can fall onto your keyboard. if you are leaving a mass, then that is not good. your keyboard might be quite warm. >> here at the society headquarters, colleagues become competitors. they spend their lunch or trying to clinch the virtual grand slam.

others swim every day. >> i think that i have a job for a to sit down quite a lot of the day. it is nice to get up and go do something and to make the good use of the time. i feel if i have done something useful with my hour, i really active. >> and, some go for a walk. >> it is a bit of fun just to get out and get some fresh air. we had the snow a few weeks ago. >> the boss says that it is good for staff and good for business. >> we have seen since we have been doing this work, a significant drop in sick absences, a significant drop in turnover, and customer satisfaction levels. >> it might not suit every business but they find that the best approach is to work, rest,

and play. >> ok. soup i had at my desk at lunchtime. thank you for watching bbc news. thank you for watching. and in tomorrow. -- tune in tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our

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